The man who allegedly robbed the First Citizens Bank inside of Ingles Wednesday morning was arrested Friday.

Madison County Sheriff Kip Thomas said James Edward Lawson, 46, Athens, has been charged with armed robbery. He was arrested at a hotel in Claxton by the Claxton Police Department and the Evans County Sheriff’s Department.

Lawson is being transported back to Madison County today.

Thomas said that two people recognized the surveillance photo of Lawson that was posted on local media sites and contacted the sheriff’s department with Lawson’s identity.

The sheriff said it’s a relief to have the alleged bank robber in custody. He noted that it’s stressful for bank employees when a bank robber is on the loose.

“It takes a lot of stress off everyone,” said Thomas. “Everyone gets a little on edge.”

Ummmmm, I would think that the Sheriff's Office here told them that he was there. Surely there was no super duper deputy in Evans county that immediately identified the guy and placed him in custody. You people amaze me.

I am not a Kip fan at all, but fair is fair and you are blaming him for something he did not do. When people who recognized this POS and forwarded the info to the appropriate people, the guy was arrested. It was much simpler and more expediant to contact Evans and Claxton law enforcement while they KNEW he was there than to drive that far and discover he had just left.
If you want to get upset with the Sheriff, get upset over the Double O bonding issue that is going to cost the county a bunch of money due to Kip's hot temper and ignorance of Constitutional rights.

I would like to correct the statement made by "anonymous" by saying that my staff reached Ingles within minutes of the burglary. Once this man left Ingles, he could have gone any direction. No one saw him leave so there were no details for us to go by at first. After getting his picture out on Facebook, a couple of tips came in for Lawson. After investigating this person we were able to determine his cell phone number which was tracked to Claxton. The Evans County Sheriff's deputies and Claxton PD were then able to make the arrest based on OUR information and investigating.

I don't see how they didn't get there faster I mean they always have a cop at the shell station drinking coffee and flirting with the girl at the check out. Hell half the time they have a cop off duty with his patrol car running standing at the counter talking. Maybe if they spent less time flirting at the station and more time in the car they might have caught him.